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Starting School

If your child is due to start school in September 2019 and you would like to come and visit the school we can offer bespoke tours for individuals and groups of parents.

Please telephone the school officeto make an appointment 01603 427113

Whether this is your first child or third, starting school can be quite nerve wracking for both pupil and parent, which is why we have tried to make the process as simple and supportive as possible. Below we have detailed all you’ll need to know about starting at our school.

Angel Road Infant School currently has a reception year intake of 90 pupils. We welcome pupils with differing needs and those from all religions and ethnic backgrounds and are equipped to accommodate children with physical difficulties.

Children who are born between 1st September 2015 and 31st August 2016 can start school in reception class from September 2019.

We encourage parents wishing to send their children to our school, to make an appointment to visit and have a look around. Parents of children nearing school age must apply to Norfolk County Council by 15th January 2020.

If your child was born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016, they are due to start school in reception class in the school year starting September 2020. By law they must be offered a full-time place from September 2020

Parents are entitled to defer their child’s admission or request that their child attend on a part-time basis. By law, children must start statutory education full-time no later than the beginning of the term following their fifth birthday

If you complete a paper application, NCC will send you a letter on 16 April 2020 by second class post. It will tell you at which school your child has been offered a place.

Before starting school

If your child attends a nursery or preschool, then our school staff will visit to find out about your child and their development so far.

School visits

There will be plenty of opportunities to visit the school before your child officially starts in September. Parents will be invited to attend an evening welcome meeting with the Head of School, Lindsay Moody in June/July, where you will also get to meet the Reception year staff.

You and your child will be invited to a number of visits so they can get to know their classroom and the adults within it (We usually try to invite children from the same pre-school or nursery on the same day). An induction pack will be given to parents which contains all the key information such as uniform, lunches and ideas for how you can help prepare your child for school over the summer. A letter will be sent home containing the date and time your child will start school.

Home visits

This is an invaluable part of the settling in process as teachers and teaching assistants will have a chance to get to know your child in a place where they feel comfortable and confident, where they have their own things around them and where they can be themselves. It is also an excellent chance for parents to ask questions and talk to the teacher on a one to one basis about any issues unique to their child.

Staggered Entry

Even if your child has been full time at nursery or preschool a gradual entry into school is essential for all children. School is a much bigger place with many more people to get to know. Your child’s first few days will be half days. These part time sessions allow children to build confidence, absorb information and feel happy in their new surroundings. It allows staff to get to know children better and gives them more opportunities to talk to you.

Once your child has started full time, you will be invited to an informal session on Early Years Foundation School curriculum (EYFS), to share with you how your child is learning through play and how you can support their continued learning at home. Within the first half term, you will receive details of parent/teacher evenings to find out how your child has settled in to school.

Preparing your child for school

Over the Summer months you can prepare your child to help them get the most from school, access all areas of learning independently and feel confident to try everything we have to offer. Below we have listed a few of the things which might help your child settle into their new school environment.

Buy their school coat early, teach them how to put it on and take it off, then let them practice buttons and zips until they can do it on their own.

Teach them how to pull a sleeve or leg through the right way if it is inside out.

Check your child can go to the toilet on their own (without reminders) and can wipe themselves carefully without help.

Let your child undress and dress themselves alone and without help as often as possible to practice changing for P.E.

Teach them how to put clothes the right way round if they get inside out. Tights are very difficult!

Check your child can recognise their name when hand written on clothes, book bag, lunch box etc (please don’t write all in capitals but with a capital at the beginning and the rest lower case).

Buy their P.E. kit early so they can practice putting it on a few times. (They will love to show grandparents and friends!)

Teach them how to put everything back in the bag, checking their name is on so they know it is not someone else’s.

Check your child can use a knife, fork and spoon without help, and begin to teach them to cut their food up.

Buy their lunch box early and practice opening and closing it. Have a picnic together so you know they can manage. Remind them to eat their sandwich, rice, pasta, tortilla wrap or sausage roll before they eat their fruit, yoghurt, cake, biscuits.

Check your child can wash and dry their hands on their own.

Visit a Library and borrow books about starting school to share together.

Please always talk excitedly about starting school and remind your child of all the fun things they played with when they came on the visits. Always talk positively about school and try not to show your worries as they may pick up on this.

We hope this information will help reassure you that at Angel Road Infant School, we aim to make your child’s transition to school as happy and comfortable as possible. If you have any questions please take a look at our FAQ’s section or contact us on

Oversubscription rules for admission to Reception classes in community and voluntary controlled schools for children due to start school in September 2020.

If there are more applications for places than there are places available, the Local Authority will give priority to children living nearest to the school, according to the following rules in this order of priority:

Children who are due to start school and:

have an EHCP or statement of special educational needs naming that school

children in public care, have been adopted from public care or adopted from abroad who are due to transfer

live in the catchment area and who have a sibling attending the school at the time of their admission

live in the catchment area who have a brother or sister attending the feeder junior school

have a disability and live in the catchment area (Appropriate professional evidence will be required to confirm the disability)

live in the catchment area

have been allocated a permanent place at a Specialist Resource Base attached to the school. (Places allocated by Norfolk County Council’s Placement panel)

live outside the catchment area who have a brother or sister with a statement of special educational needs attending the school at the time of their admission

live outside the area served by the school who have a brother or sister attending the school at the time of their admission

live outside the catchment area who have a brother or sister attending the feeder junior school

have a disability and live outside the catchment area (Appropriate professional evidence will be required to confirm the disability)

children of staff

a) where a member of staff has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made and/or

b) the member of staff is recruited to fill a vacant post for there is a demonstrable skill shortage

live outside the catchment area

If all children within any of the above rules cannot be offered aIf all children within any of the above rules cannot be offered a place, the highest priority will be given to children living nearest to the school within that rule. To determine who lives nearest, distance will be measured on a straight line “crow fly” basis, using Ordnance Survey data. The address will be measured from the post office address point on the property.

In the unlikely event that distance does not separate the final two or more pupils seeking the last remaining place, a random allocation will be used to determine who is offered the final place.

NOTE: Criteria 7 only applies to schools which have a Specialist Resource Base on site.

Feeder school priority will only apply in the first year of entry to the school.